New Orleans catering companies see increase in wedding business

New Orleans CityBusiness, Jul 19, 2004 by Tommy Santora

Brian Fitzgerald, a catering director for 12 years at the New Orleans Columns Hotel on St. Charles Avenue, says this is the best wedding season he has ever seen as the Columns will have done 11 between June and August, more than double last year's business.

But the Columns is not the only caterer in town passing around more hors d'oeuvres:

* New Orleans' independent event caterer, Joel, reports a 30 percent increase from last summer with 12 weddings in May and June;

* Metairie's Jefferson Orleans South is up 25 percent from summer 2003 to 40 weddings in the past three months with an average of three to four a weekend;

* Marrero's Capdeboscq Catering Service has catered 50 weddings in the last three months with an average of four a weekend, up from the 40 weddings in the same span at this time last year.

These numbers reflect New Orleans' march-down-the-aisle status as the No. 4 city in the world for weddings, according to the data from the Association for Wedding Professionals International in Sacramento, Calif.

New Orleans had 36,545 weddings in 2002, behind Istanbul, Turkey, No. 1 at 166,000; No. 2 Las Vegas, 114,000; and No. 3 Gatlinburg, Tenn., 42,000.

Richard Markel, president of the Association for Wedding Professionals International, said New Orleans could be as high as No. 2 by 2005 in the United States behind Las Vegas. He said one of the reasons for the jump is Louisiana last year eliminated the 72-hour wait between getting a license and getting married for out-of-state couples in Orleans Parish.

But most quickie weddings don't involve catered parties. The New Orleans catering business thrives, according to Fitzgerald, because of its many unique wedding backdrops.

We do a lot of destination weddings and a lot of people just come here because they have fallen in love with the city, Fitzgerald said. New Orleans is just romantic. Everything about getting married in this city is romantic and we have sort of a built-in edge because we're on St. Charles and in the middle of everything.

Hotel and independent caterers said they have used the backdrops of French Quarter courtyard hotels to historic homes and plantations to Jackson Square to gardens at City Park and the gleaming Gallier Hall for various venues of attraction.

New Orleans just understands hospitality a lot more than other cities because it has a lot to offer, said Jerry Edwards, president of the National Association of Catering Executives.

Tony McHale, general manager of catering at New Orleans' Windsor Court Hotel, which made $3.1 million in revenue in 2003, said his off- premise catering business has extended to dress up private homes in the Garden District.

The Garden District is the jewel of the city and the opportunity to marry in that kind of environment comes once in a lifetime, he said.

Don Zimmer, sales and marketing director for the Astor Crowne Plaza in New Orleans, said hotel caterers have certain advantages and disadvantages against independent caterers. Hotel caterers can offer a variety of services to wedding couples such as overnight accommodations, honeymoon suites and a spot for the rehearsal dinner, he said. But one thing that is difficult about being a caterer in a hotel is it's tough to commit too far ahead because conventions may take up a lot of rooms on the same day or weekend.

Joel catering made $2.45 million in 2003 revenue to rank as the second-highest New Orleans independent caterer behind City Park Catering at $2.5 million. Joel catered most of its weddings at Latrobe's, a historic building used as an event venue on Royal Street, but it also catered weddings at Princess of Monaco in the French Quarter, Gallier Hall, the Pavilion of Two Sisters in City Park and also private homes, according to Sarah Hall, vice president of catering.

Hall said approximately one-third of their business comes from weddings. We just tell our clients that we can do an elaborate wedding at any budget, Hall said. We try to develop good relationships with them because we know that they're excited about the event and want it to be as memorable as possible.

Gene Capdeboscq, owner of the independent Capdeboscq's in Marrero, has catered more than 6,000 weddings through his family owned off- premise business since 1968. He said the personal touch is key.

You treat each wedding reception like it's the only one and you give that much attention to each bride, Capdeboscq said. I tell every bride that she will be an eventual salesperson for me when they refer other brides. It means a lot to us when they come back and tell us how we helped make their night special for them.

Heather Laroche, a wedding sales consultant for two years at Partysist Special Events in New Orleans, said she has had a lot of May and October requests, which fall outside the traditionally hot wedding summer season.

We have a lot of brides going for the spring themes and also doing the holiday themes, which are more to their liking, she said. Some people just prefer the cooler weather and the atmosphere of fresh flowers and gardens.